The Lion King III: The Deadly truth
by katsumiful
Summary: Kovu and Kiara both find several abandoned cubs. They decided to take them in, but soon after they have grown up, they lose their family and must use every single thing their parents have taught them to find their way back. Don't expect a VERY happy ending...


_**The Lion King III: The Deadly Truth**_

* * *

_Prologue_

One paw in front of the other. The cub did that continuously as his eyes locked onto the path in front of him. The dry and sandy desert quickly turned into lush and beautiful green land, animals interacting with respect. There were bunches of herd at the waterhole, where they quickly quenched their thirst. The cub winced as he lay down on the hot grass. He heard shuffling behind him. The young cub stood up attentively, tears staining his fur and extending the sharp claws he had left.

A Rabbit hopped out of the bush, studying the cub thoroughly before hopping off to its group. The small, tanned cub sighed heavily, wiping some sweat off his forehead. He was a very young cub, but old enough to speak and walk.

"Akido! Makano!" cooed the young cub as he called for his brothers. His voice sounded hoarse and dry, and he would often cough out sand from his mouth. The tanned cub licked his lips as they were dry, panting heavily before continuing to walk.

* * *

A proud new king made his way past the lush, green grass that seemed succulent to the herds that grazed. He placed his brown paws in front, slowly as he neared the end of his patrol. He brushed his tail on the leaves, and quickly scent-marked across the Northern border of the Pridelands.

"Akido!" cooed a voice from in front. There was a deep silence before the voice came again. "Makano! Where are you?!"

Kovu listened; it seemed to be a cub's voice. He walked faster, determined to reach the ear-piercing screams of the nearby cub. After a few minutes, he finally saw a small, tanned figure. The figure ... of a cub? The cub looked around frantically, whipping his head fiercely from side to side. He stopped as he heard a twig crack. He raised his ears slowly, afraid.

"Who are you?" Kovu pondered, moving in towards the cub. The cub's tears continued to roll as he thickened his tiny growl. "Do you need help?"

The cub exhaled before collapsing onto the ground. Without wasting another minute, Kovu quickly scooped up the bundle. The feeling of the cub's chest rising and falling soothed him - telling the brown king the cub was still alive. He remembered this moment.

Yes - Over four months ago when he saved Kiara from being caught into the fire as it spread.

* * *

Queen Kiara had just returned from the waterhole and had encountered five other young cubs. Three of them were newly born cubs, and all females.

"My goodness!" the queen gasped as her black pupils widened with shock. "You cubs are coming with me," she ordered as she helped the newborn cubs up her back. The other two cubs were males and could walk and talk. One of them had golden fur, like Simba did when he was a cub. His ears were fully rimmed, not just the edges. The most amusing were his calm, green eyes that soothed Kiara every time she looked into them.

A brown cub stood next to him, quivering and looking at Kiara. His eyes were a solid blue and his nose was black. His paws were left uncolored like Nala's which Kiara found quite distinguishing.

The three newborn cubs looked as if they were from the same litter. One of them was a tawny beige, another a creamy color and another a khaki beige color. Their ears were rimmed except for one, whom was the creamy cub.

"I can't mother all of you," sighed Kiara as she set the cubs on the cave floor. "I'll have to find you a home in the neighboring pride - Perhaps my cousin, Katika would like a cub - she can't really have cubs,"

Kovu suddenly appeared with the male cub on his back which startled both of them. "You found cubs too?"

"_Too_?" Kiara repeated. "You found a cub?!"

"Well, yes. He was wandering out alone. What if they came from another pride?"

"But, no mother would abandon them in this state. I think the males were chased. But we should really find the newborns a home in the neighboring territory. We can't raise all of them, so I thought I'd give the girls to my cousin, Katika." Kiara explained.

"I guess you're right. We should keep these three males and find the females a home."

The golden-furred cub and the brown-furred cub were a bit sad to hear this. They had bonded well with the newborns. But they were happy to finally encounter their brother, the tanned-furred cub. The three males nuzzled each other affectionately, making both Kovu and Kiara smile warmly.

* * *

**_Chapter 1: The Pride's Princes._**

It had been two weeks since the encounters of the cubs and the three princes were right at home. They would often wake early and bounded out of the den like stampeding wildebeests or any other animal. King Kovu and Queen Kiara had decided to keep the cubs' names, which they found out to be Akido, Makano and Maji. Not only was this news exciting, but the pride were extremely excited when they found out Kiara was to be a mother for the first time.

It was a hot and sunny morning when the cubs woke up. They woke up later than usual - when all the pride were out hunting, patrolling or lounging. Vitani, King Kovu's older sister, had decided to stay and watch the cubs, only because she had her patrol with the lionesses later on and she did well to watch over her three nephews.

"Hello, Aunt Vitani." greeted Maji with a hint of happiness in his voice as he nuzzled his aunt's leg.

"Good morning, my dear. How did you sleep?" Their conversation was interrupted when the other two cubs nuzzled Vitani wearily and lazily. The fringed lioness chuckled slightly before speaking again. "Why are awake if you're still sleepy?"

"We're not sleepy." Akido protested angrily, yawning afterwards.

"Yeah, we're not... sleepy." yawned Makano, licking his lips.

"Tell you what, why don't you cubs go out to play for a while? Perhaps visit the waterhole?" the adult lioness asked, standing up on all fours. "It's a lovely day..." Vitani had now left and left the three cubs to their own decisions.

They all looked at each other, before galloping off into the Savannah's golden, tall grass.

* * *

_Hummm..._

The noise was getting louder.

_Hummmm..._

Maji turned around, face to face with an angry bee along with the rest of its group. Maji pinned his ears behind his head and chuckled nervously as he hid their home behind his back. The bees began swarming around the tanned cub as he moved back.

"Ahhh! Ahh! Okay, Okay! I'm sorry!" the young cub yelled before being left there on his own and using his arms for shelter. He quivered as he watched the bees leave, satisfied.

Maji's two brothers, Akido and Makano, approached him laughing.

"We saw the whole thing!" cackled Akido, before the two brothers fell on the floor laughing, hysterically.

"Shut up! I bet it's gonna happen to you one day, too!" yelled the defensive cub, feeling humiliated as he licked a spot that stuck out of his fur.

"How are you gonna get that big thing off your arm? You look really stupid with it on," Makano criticized. He elbowed his brother with a smile. "Hey, you know we're kiddin' right?"

Maji pulled his arm away, growling playfully and pinning his brother. "Now you're the stupid one, eh?" he teased, swishing his tail arrogantly as he walked home to Pride Rock.

* * *

Kiara was at home, resting and watching the lionesses hunt. She rubbed her belly with a hint of excitement, happiness and anxiety at the same time.

"This is my first time giving birth to cubs," she mumbled. "I'll be a great mother to you guys, though... I hope."

She looked to her left and saw Kovu return. He nuzzled her tenderly and licked her cheek before placing his ears on her stomach. "Oh, I just heard my little baby kick!" he said dreamily. "Are you worried dear? This is your first time giving birth."

Kiara held his paw tightly. "A little. But my mother managed to give birth to me... and now she's gone. I can't do this without my mtoher's support." Kiara frowned, looking up to Kovu.

"Your father's still here, honey. I'm sure he'll support you. So will I, and so everyone else. You know, I saw Katika's mate on my patrol. She says the girls are growing up well and quick." Kovu consoled.

"I'm glad to hear that. In fact, I wanted to take the boys to visit them later on. Would you like to come?"

"Sorry, dear. But I've got king stuff to do." Kovu frowned, nuzzling her.

"All right, then. Maybe next time?"

"Of course." said Kovu, leaving her side.

After a while, Kiara did as she promised and took the cubs to go and see their companions. She kept it a surprise of course because she wanted to do her cubs some good as they haven't seen each other in two weeks. She led them up the copy, alongside the river and towards her cousin's pride. There was a huge, muddy swamp that separated the two super prides, but they were still permitted to visit each other if they were family.

After crossing the hot, bubbly swamp, the cubs' coats were wet and muddy. Only Kiara's legs were muddy, as she was much taller. After reaching a certain distance, Kiara gave out a small roar - a simple warning to tell the swamp pride they were visiting.

* * *

A brown lioness with blue eyes approached them with a tanned male with brown mane. The female nuzzled Kiara affectionately before nuzzling her nephews.

"Hello, Katika," Kiara greeted as she pulled away from the nuzzle. She bumped heads with the male. "No-one could forget you, Kubwa."

"Hello, my dear cousin Kiara. How are the boys?" Katika asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"They're all right, they're here actually."

The three boys stepped out and nuzzled their relatives timidly, before walking back behind Kiara's heels.

"What brings you today?" Kubwa asked as he nuzzled the last cub.

"Well, I thought the boys have really missed the girls and thought we could visit."

"Oh, they're out with their grandmother, Kula, learning how to walk..." Katika frowned. "They should be back in a while..."

"I can't wait a while. I've got some things to do back at home," Kiara exhaled, looking at her little cubs. "Sorry, boys. Maybe next time?"

"All right, mom. We can wait," the boys said in unison.

The Pridelanders turned around to begin their walk home, through the bubbly mud, the lush and green grass and into their warm kopje to rest and play in. It began to rain as they walked home, making it a bit harder for Kiara since she was pregnant. She seemed a bit on edge despite her calm attitude to the cubs. She would often yell outbursts accidentally, or she'd fall asleep quickly, or be hungry all the time.

It was night and the pride were settling inside the den. Simba, an old golden lion, had approached his daughter and bumped heads with her.

"These cubs will be born soon," he noted, examining his daughter's stomach. "Did you know Shani is expecting too?"

"Well, yes. She told me before and she will only have her cubs later than mine. I'm worried, father. I can't do this without mother." Kiara winced as she lay down.

Kiara's mother, Nala, had died on a hunt when catching buffalo. Her muzzle was wounded badly, her jaw dropped and had caused an infection. Simba frowned before smiling weakly at his troubled daughter.

"But she won't be suffering those infections anymore," he sighed as he glanced back at the princes. "...and she'll be with you in your heart."

"I hope so," said Kiara as she snuggled up to Kovu.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, it's sad that Nala died from hunting - but I just couldn't think of anything for her to do in this story. This was the requested story I was going on about. I added some characters, but not all of these characters are mine. Obviously you know the Disney ones, right? If you don't you should watch the movie to understand the story - but that's up to you! :D**

**Here are _my _OCs I added:**

**Maji - "Water" (Swahili) - Kiara and Kovu's adopted son.**

**Katika - "To" (Swahili) - Kula's daughter and Kiara's cousin that adopted the three female cubs. She can't produce cubs or milk (but she does have lionesses in her pride who can.)**

**Kubwa - "Mighty" (Swahili) - Katika's mate and dominant male of their pride.**

**Shani - "Adventure" (Swahili) - A Pridelander.**

**I haven't found voice actors for them just yet, but I will, eventually :D **

**I must say, the intro is detailed but the first chapter isn't really :/ I need to work on making the chapters more detailed... **

***If you have anything you want to add, contact me by PM or just write in the comment box please :)***

***THIS WAS A REQUESTED STORY BY SimbaNF.**


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